


Leaf Trouble

by JaKedeSnaKe



Series: Life in the Perseus Arm [5]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Babies, Cute, F/F, Feral Gems (Steven Universe), Future Fic, Gem Egg Hell, Gemlings, I'm Bad At Tagging, cursing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 18:57:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaKedeSnaKe/pseuds/JaKedeSnaKe
Summary: The peridot and lapis gemlings have an interesting encounter with a leaf on their alien home.





	Leaf Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Part 2 of my lapis lazuli/peridot egg hell fic
> 
> Read my fic about early gemling development stages in order to get some badkground info.

Morning light shined at the young family as they perched in a ocean blue tree near their den. It had been a month since the gemlings have hatched, and their carrier - the peridot - decided it was high time they went outside to experience some fresh air. The gemlings were still in stage 1, as they would be for about two more years. As such, they would be the most vulnerable to the elements, predation, and catching sicknesses. Therefore it was still dangerous for them to be outside their den at all, but their parents have taken precautions. 

The lapis had scouted the forest near their den for a tree tall enough to be easy to defend and hard to intrude. Once the perfect blue tree was spotted the lapis fashioned a nest up in the branches, much like how a chimpanzee would over on Earth. The lapis had also scourged the area to rid it of small predators. She also uprooted trees and relocated boulders to create an open space around their tree, making it easier to spot potential harm. After all the preparations were performed, the lapis brought her gemlings up into the nest one by one, with the peridot guarding the nest in the den until the task was finished.

So there the young family laid, high up in their tree relaxing, shielded from the elements, and taking in the forest scenery through gaps in the branches.

The six gemlings were wedged between to their mothers in various different positions. Some laid on their backs head-to-head, while others laid on their stomachs side-by-side. In the center of the gemling pile the lapis runt was curled tightly in a fetal position, still so much smaller and weaker than her siblings. Their parents used their bodies to corral them, cuddling them and guarding their tree nest. 

Even though the gemlings still hadn’t opened their eyes and their hearing was poor at best, they could still tell that they were outside of their den. They could smell the fresh forest air and could feel the wind that caused their tree’s bulbous leaves to clunk against each other. Occasionally the loud calls of other animals could be barely detected by the gemlings, who would chirrup out high-pitched, poorly mimicked responses, much to their lapis mother’s annoyance.

A stronger gust of wind caused one of the roundish leaves to detach from a branch and land on top of a resting peridot gemling. Fortunately, the bulbous leaves are soft and mushy, for the detached leaf landed on the baby with a light splat. 

Psch! The almost fruit-like leaf made landfall onto the gemling. It practically smothered it, as it was almost its size. Only her short, tiny feet escaped the leaf’s impact, making the gemling resemble a tiny Wicked Witch of the East. Unlike the Witch however, she was alive and kicking, her green feet kicking frantically in an attempt to free herself from her mushy blue tomb. She let out cries for her mother, but they were heavily silenced by the fact that a giant mushy leaf covered her face. Blue gunk from the leaf had splatted onto her siblings as well, covering them in gooey, sticky plant matter. Soon all of the gemlings were whimpering and crying out to their mothers for help.

One of her parents - the peridot - turned her attention away from blissfully staring off into the forest after hearing one muffled cry and five other cries of distress. Spotting the mushy leaf smothering one of her young, she let out a cry of surprise and sprang into action. Picking up the oval-like leaf with her teeth, she quickly flung it over their nesting. 

She could’ve sworn she heard a cry of disgust as she heard it hit something. 

Choosing to ignore the sound to focus on helping her babies, she quickly turned to her young with a frantic, worried expression on her face, unsure of how much damage the gelatinous leaf had caused.

To her surprise the crying had ceased. Replacing the crying was the happy cheeps of the peridot who got smothered by the leaf. Three of her siblings were lapping the blue plant gunk off of her, apparently taking a liking to the taste. The other two, including the runt, were busy licking the gunk off themselves. “Pii, pii, pii!” the happy gemling chirred, as her siblings moved from licking her arms and chest to licking her face. Their carrier hummed, watching on with both a loving and amused expression. 

The lapis, who was more or less guarding from her nest than observing the forest, finally noticed her brood’s antics. She glanced towards them, only to reveal a sour expression on her face. Here she was, trying to keep watch of their nest, and her young kept bothering her every other minute. Nonetheless, the sight of her gemlings looking happy caused a smile to break out across her face. And hey, maybe the goop could feed the gemlings enough to give her mate a break from breastfeeding them.

The blue gem then noticed her youngest, the lapis runt, trying to lap at a glob of goop that somehow managed to get lodged in her right armpit. Her tiny nub of an arm was moved out of the way, and she jabbed her tongue towards the goop, like a giraffe trying to grab leaves that are just out of reach. All the while she murmured sounds of frustration and determination. The sire then used her arm to scoop up her youngest away from the pile of gemlings and onto her chest. Once settled she carefully, yet firmly, she nudged the runt’s head towards her armpit. At long last, she could finally get at the goop, and begin lapping it up with excitement. The tiny baby looked up at where she could guess her mother was and let out a squeak of thanks and triumph.

Her mother stared at her happy gemling with pride. Then she froze, just having remembered something crucial about Stage 1 diets after being distracted by the adorable antics of her kin: they are strictly fed liquids. Turning to face her mate, she stared at her with fright. The peridot, busy helping clean a lapis gemling of goop, failed to notice her mate’s worried gaze. Defeated, the lapis anxiously eyed her gemlings as if they were all about to explode. They had all just finished licking the plant goop off of them. If they aren’t able to eat mushy foods yet, the blue gem pondered, how did all of my babies managed to eat the goop?

Turns out they didn’t.

Babies can keep inedible foods down for so long. The lapis and peridot pair soon found that out the hard way. One by one, the gemlings expelled the goop they had just eaten onto each other, with the surprising power of tiny little squirt guns. It was everywhere. It was indiscriminate. It spattered all over their faces, backs, arms, hands - all over. Not even their green mom was spared, who yelped in surprise after being squirted on the cheek by the little lapis gemling she was helping clean. 

Only the little lapis runt hadn’t lost her lunch. Her sire gingerly inspected the runt she was cradling. The runt stirred a bit, murmuring sounds signaling of internal disruption. Slowly she rolled over onto her side and slowly she opened her mouth. Like a fountain spewing honey, all the goop she had consumed calmly poured out onto her mother’s chest. Her mother could only stare, unsure of what exactly to do. Once the viscous flow had finally ceased, the runt let out a tiny burp, chirped at her mother, and fell asleep purring on her stomach.

Her blue mother looked up from her petite gemling and stared across the goop-covered nest at her mate with a dazed expression. The peridot returned her gaze with an equally stunned one. That was . . . something, they both concluded through their fixated glances. They both made a mental note: be sure to remember to NOT let the babies eat anything other than liquids until they are older. For right now, however, it’s cleanup time.

While ridding the nest of the leaf goop the green gem was struck with the remembrance of hearing an animal cry during the goop debacle earlier. Peering over the branch nest she expected to find an animal sleeping under the tree’s shade. But there was nothing there. She could see the leaf she flung over the nest, looking quite more smushed than she expected from a fall from this height. But she thought nothing of it. The animal probably moved off annoyed after being assaulted by the fruit-like leaf, she thought. Yeah, that was probably it, she concluded. She turned away from the edge of the nest with a satisfied expression, resuming helping her mate clean their gemlings.

It was nearing dusk. A thin humanoid figure stormed through the navy blue forest, muttering sounds of irritation. His hair was stained blue, with little shreds of leaf in it. On this feral gem-populated planet, a hominid wouldn’t have come across as a shock to native wildlife. Yet small animals darted out of the way of the being, and ungulate-like herbivores eyed him with perplexity. The unusual thing about this hominid was that it didn’t scamper around on all fours. It walked on two.

The upright figure approached a clearing in the blue forest, where a small camp was set up. Tents, cooking gear, and plastic crates of food were seen, as well as an electromagnetic fence and various scientific tools and parameters used for measuring. There were also various instruments of capture - snares, nets, bat traps, kennels, and two glassy grey shotguns that leaned up against a tree.

The figure turned towards another figure, who looked much bulkier, much blacker, and much older than he was, tinkering away with one of the scientific instruments. He looked up from a sextant, initially frowning. He soon smiled though, as he saw the state of the other. He called to the thinner figure in a brash tone.

“Like the new hairdo, Mitch!” he remarked, after letting out a short, loud chuckle. As the atmosphere of this planet wasn’t completely suited for his kind, he took a hit of oxygen from an oxygen canister he has strapped to his back. He regained his composure and eyed Mitch with discontent. “Where the hell were you? I was just ‘bout to go out an’ search for ya.”

Mitch, a small pale Caucasian from Northern California, stared back at the African American Southerner with jaded eyes, wiping gunk from his hair. “I spent three hours combing the forest looking for the gem family after getting only two hours of sleep on this fucking planet,” Mitch replied sternly. “So, Aaron, sorry if I took too long while you relaxed in your air-conditioned tent.”

Aaron’s face quickly turned into a scowl. He turned abruptly to Mitch, who receded out of fear.

“Hey!” yelled the hefty black man. “Don’t fucking give me that shit, I’ve been busy bustin’ my ass with these gadgets here.” He took a couple of steps forwards until he was eye-to-eye with a shrunken Mitch. “I was starting to think you were dead. D’ya know how many things out in that forest can kill you, never mind them gems? If ya don’ believe me, I might just send your ass out in there at night to see for yourself!” Aaron shouted while shoving Mitch, cowering.

“A-alright, yeah, I h-hear you Aaron, I-I’m sorry,” Mitch answered meekly, slowly backing away.

Aaron stared down at Mitch contemptuously, as if he was a tiny bug that needed to be stomped. “You young people think y’all are high and mighty, don’tcha? Git to boss old people like me around, huh? Well there’s this lil’ thing called karma, Mitch, and your ass is gonna get what’s comin’!” Aaron eyed Mitch with scorn. “Quit bitching, damnit, or I’m replacin’ your ass as soon as we get back to the base back at Pelaton Space Station.”

Mitch looked on in stunned, frightened silence. Aaron looked like he was about to continue, but decided against it. He turned away from Mitch, stormed over to his instruments, and began meticulously studying a holographic map. “Did you find the targets?” he demanded after eyeing the map for a moment.

“I-I did, finally, they were up in a tree some 300 yards away from their den. The Petramus lapis was bringing her babies to the tree one-by-one. That’s why the field cameras kept getting triggered.”

“Great. Now, when d’ya think they’ll get down?” Aaron said, keeping his focus on the map.

Mitch looked at him, puzzled but with fear in his eyes. “Does . . . does that, matter?”

“What d’ya mean ‘does it matter?’” Aaron retorted, stressing out the different syllables of what Mitch said in a mocking gesture. “Of course that matters! We can’t jus’ climb up in the tree an’ grab the targets! It’ll be way too hard, or it’ll jus’ scare ‘em off. We’ll have ta’ wait ‘em out.”

“What? *Sputter,* the space shuttle l-leaves in a week, and we haven’t even booked tickets, we haven’t even gotten buyers - how long are we s-supposed to wait?”

Aaron cursed under his breath. He looked up from the map and glanced at Mitch with discontent. Reflexively he flinched and turned away with a wince. Aaron sighed.

“Let’s give it a day or two, them gemlings are still real young and their parents won’t have ‘em outta their den for too long.”

His scowl slowly turned to a smirk as he eyed the blue gunk in Mitch’s hair. “Seriously though, what the hell happened to ya hair?”

“Oh, y-yeah,” Mitch said, calming down but still a little cautious of Aaron’s wrath. “I found out where they were after they flung one of those fruit-ish leaves at me from their tree.”

“Ha! That’s good, that’s real good,” chuckled Aaron, more or less laughing at Mitch than with him. “Alright, go get cleaned up, don’t wantcha gettin’ your tent all dirty. Be a pain in my ass to disassemble,” he stated, the last part under his breath. 

Mitch did as he was told. He cleaned his hair with a mobile shower, undressed, and lumbered into his cot in his tent. 

As he stared at the tent ceiling trying to go to sleep, his mind filled with thoughts. Damn it, why did I take this job? Am I really gonna stoop this low? Smuggling cute little alien youth through security checkpoints to be sold to the highest bidder? Really doesn’t help that my boss is a bipolar dick. Mitch turned in his cot, his eyes filled with dread. Once this is finished, he thought, I’m not gonna take a job like this again. Ever. 

Eventually he, Aaron, and the young gem family finally fell asleep. The two parties - the victims, their pursuers - were one day closer to meeting.


End file.
